The Air That I Breathe: Alternate Scenes
by Chellerbelle
Summary: Alternate scenes for The Air That I Breathe. For those of us who are impatient for Rogue and Remy to admit their feelings and get together finally!
1. Alternate scene for chapter 24

I'm feeling the need to celebrate the fact that I've just started writing chapter 79 of **_The Air That I Breathe_**, and the starting year is 79. At long last, the number of years is going to supass the number of chapters. You have no idea how happy I am.

Anyway, by coincidence, the most recently posted chapter of _The Air That I Breathe_, Chapter 24, has an alternate opening scene, which I wrote for the fun of it. There was no way this scene was going to be the actual opening scene because it would have spoiled all my diabolical evil schemes for the story.

This scene is unedited. It may contain mild spoilers, plotholes, or continunity errors.

* * *

**Alternate** **Chapter 24 opening scene:**

Gambit woke up the next morning in Rogue's bed wearing only his pyjama bottoms. He smiled when he saw her asleep on her side and he shuffled over to spoon with her. Rogue mumbled something and relaxed into him. He smiled to himself and trailed his fingers lightly over her stomach, just enjoying the proximity. He lifted his head to kiss her next and then realised two things: her helmet was in the way, and he'd been about to kiss her.

The thought startled him, his actions moreso. They had exchanged kisses before, on the hand or on the helmet near a cheek or the top of the head. He'd certainly thought about kissing her more deeply than that, but in those thoughts there was no need for helmets. This was the first time he'd actually attempted to kiss her like he would have one of his lovers.

As Gambit settled beside Rogue, frowning at his own thoughts, he realised given their current physical position it was little wonder he might try to do that. Part of him wondered if he was over stepping his bounds, while the rest of him pointed out that they'd always had a touching relationship and the only thing that had really changed was the layers between them. Then he wasn't sure if he'd been taking advantage of Rogue this whole time. She was beautiful and sexy, and he wanted to touch her as much as she wanted to be touched. Was it mutual satisfaction or was he just a bastard taking advantage of her vulnerability and desperation? He didn't know.

Rogue sighed and turned around to look at him. He wiped the anxiety off his face as Rogue smiled.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," he replied.

Rogue ran one hand up his bare chest, reminding Gambit that this touching business went both ways. He definitely liked being touched by her and he knew she liked touching him.

"I could definitely deal with waking up like this more often," she said coyly.

"Well, I'm here for a whole month," Gambit replied cheerfully. "I'm sure we could arrange something."

The urge to kiss her came back again and he may have done it if it wasn't physically impossible for him to press his lips to hers.

"I'd like that," she said.

He looked into her youthful face, only her eyes betraying her true age, and was reminded of his thoughts the day before about the potential of Rogue having a long life. He hoped he was right. It would be awesome if he could have her in his life and not have to concern himself with out living her like he did with every other woman in his life who wasn't Candra or part of the Guild.

Perhaps he was going about this dating business all wrong. Maybe it was Rogue he should be with.

"Rogue," he said, his voice low and husky.

"Yeah?" Rogue inquired, her hand continuing to gently caress his chest.

"I want... I, I need to kiss you," he said.

Rogue met his eyes and felt a little overwhelmed by the desire she saw in them. Her heart began to race. Was this really happening, or was she just dreaming?

"You, you do?" she asked.

He moved in as if to do just that, his hands grabbing at her helmet as if trying to phase through it. His lips pressed up against the helmet, as close to her lips as they could get. He sighed and closed his eyes when all they felt was the clear visor.

Rogue lifted her hand and ran her thumb over his lips. She'd never felt so excited or terrified in her life.

"Maybe there's somewhere else you can kiss me?" she offered. "Something more satisfactory?"

"There will never be any kiss more satisfactory than tasting your lips, ma chere," Gambit replied softly, dropping his hands from her helmet and back down her sides. Before Rogue could feel discouraged by his response, he continued: "I shall simply have to make do with making love to every other inch of your body."

"Oh," Rogue breathed as he rolled her onto her back.

This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming. She sighed wantonly as he straddled her and ran his hands down her sides. Just as he was about to grab her chest he paused, remembering his earlier thoughts about taking advantage.

"With your permission of course," he said, if belatedly. "It's okay if you don't want me to. I don't want to make you comfortable or anything..."

Rogue knew then it was real. The issue of consent never came up in her daydreams.

"Well, that depends, Swamp Rat," Rogue said, torn between saying her next words and just telling him to go for it. "Is it me you want, or did you just wake up horny?"

She did not like the long silence that followed or the look of uncertainty on his face. She should have just told him to go for it. She started to get up.

"You," he said before she could get far. "Definitely you."

"You sure," Rogue asked sceptically, not looking at him as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "You seemed to have to think about it."

Gambit scooted in towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, I did," he said. "Never even occurred to me I might have woken up horny. Does happen."

Rogue closed her eyes as he tenderly ran his hands over her body.

"But it's you," he went on, "it's definitely you that I want, Roguey. You set me on fire."

She gasped lightly as he began kissing down her spine. She grabbed his closest hand and placed it on her breast, finishing what he'd stopped himself from doing only moments before. He shifted around so that he was sitting behind her and grabbed her other breast. As he squeezed she gave out the most delicious moan he'd heard in years.

Rogue had no idea what to do with her hands. They were over his, then over his legs, then running over herself, and back to his hands again. Lost in the ecstasy of the moment, she threw her head back and almost clobbered Gambit in the face with her helmet. Fortunately, Gambit anticipated this and just missed out on having his nose broken.

He moved back around and lowered her down on the bed. His hands and lips flew all over her body, eliciting more and more of those delicious moans from Rogue. Kissing the hazmat suit wasn't the same as kissing skin, but the material was thin enough that it wasn't too much of an inconvenience... except perhaps to Rogue, who in between running her hands over every part of Gambit she could reach, phased off the clothes she had been wearing underneath the hazmat suit.

His hands ran frantically over her as she wrapped her legs around him. One hand darted between her legs to rub her, the lack of true access driving him crazy. She grabbed at the waistband of his pyjama pants and gave a light tug.

"Go on," Gambit said, pressing his hardened manhood between her legs. "Phase 'em off. It's hot when you do that."

A moment later his pants were gone and flung off the edge of the bed. He rubbed himself against her as her legs tightened around him. She continued to moan in delight and he continued to revel in the sound.

She slipped her hand down and ran her fingers around his member, or as much as she could get to of it. He pulled back slightly and she explored further, trying to keep her extra doses of super-strength in mind so she didn't hurt him. His hand curled over hers, directing her to the hows and wheres, and she took her cue from him for the pressure. His increased breathing thrilled her.

He sighed as he came, and then smiled for Rogue, unable to feel the evidence of his orgasm, continued to stroke him. He weaved his fingers in hers and met her eyes.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Rogue lifted her head to look. "Oh, right."

He leaned in and kissed her gently on her collar bone. Then he lifted his head and grinned slyly at her.

"You're still raring to go, aren't you?" he asked.

"Hell yes," she replied.

"Well, then," he said. "I'd better go change into my hazmat suit then."

Rogue lifted her clean hand to his face and smiled with anticipation at what was to come.

"Change quickly," she said.

Gambit stood and she stood with him.

"You'd better believe it," he replied.

He planted a kiss on her other collar bone and then headed for the airlock door. Rogue couldn't stand the silence and as he lifted his hand to open the door, she blurted out:

"I love you."

The door opened and Gambit stepped quickly inside the hallway. Maybe he misheard? She didn't really say that... did she? He barely registered the trip to his room, barely noticed getting into his hazmat suit. He didn't know what to do. His usual methods of getting out of the "I love you" issue wouldn't work with Rogue.

He returned to the bedroom and plugged himself straight into the air. Rogue was on the bed, still in her suit sans helmet. He sat down beside her and tried to catch her eyes, but she wouldn't meet him. Cautiously he touched her leg. Her eyes watched as his hand gently caressed her, the expression on her face telling him she just didn't know whether she wanted him to continue or tell him to go away.

"Rogue," he said started say, and then stopped. He didn't know where he was going with it.

"It's okay," she said quickly, her eyes still firmly on his hand, and not noticing his hesitation at all. "You don't feel that way about me. I get it. I mean, you go through that many girlfriends, and I guess we're going pretty fast here and—"

"I love you," he said, shocking both of them with his words.

Rogue finally lifted her head and met his eyes as if not believing what she just heard. Gambit didn't know if he did either.

"I love you," he said again, testing the words out on his lips.

"You... you do?" Rogue asked. Her hands were shaking.

"Yeah, I do," Gambit said, a slow smile spreading across his face at the realisation.

"You're not just saying it?" Anxiety threaded through her voice.

"I haven't said those words for fifty years," Gambit told her. "Not since Bella Donna. Wasn't even sure if I was still capable of them."

"Seriously?" Rogue asked.

"Seriously."

"Not even Celeste? Or Trudy?" she pressed.

"Nope."

"But surely they both told you they loved you?" Rogue insisted. "You... you probably hear it all the time."

Gambit lifted his hand and touched her face. "I have. More than I can count. Most effective method of getting out of it is to just say 'I like you too' but sort of swallow up the 'ike' sound in 'like', and then kiss them straight away. Ninety percent of the time they don't realise I haven't said what they wanted me to say."

"I... you sneaky bastard."

"Wouldn't work on you and your three-dozen doses of super hearing though."

Rogue swatted at him. "Don't exaggerate. It's only four. Individual ones, not dozens."

Gambit chuckled and ran his fingers over her lips.

"One day I'll kiss you properly," he promised her. "But in the meantime... are you going to phase that thing off or do I get to undress you?"


	2. Alternate scene for chapter 44 or 45

**AN: **Another alternate scene. This one can fit into either chapter 44 or 45. I seriously considered keeping it in, just 'cause I thought it would be funny, but ultimately decided that the consequences of this scene would undermine my diabolical evil scheme. Hence why I'm sharing it with you now :)

Like the first alternate scene I shared, this one has not been edited and may contain mistakes.

* * *

Gambit rolled over in the bed and came into contact with a lovely, curvaceous body. He slid one hand over her waist and snuggled into her familiar body. His hand only rested on her stomach for a moment, then it was running gently over her, first down around her thighs and then headed north. He pressed his lower body into hers as his hand located her breasts.

Huh, that was weird. Was it his imagination or were Vanessa's breasts bigger this morning?

In his half-asleep state he shrugged it off and instead focused on fondling them. He leaned his head forward to attend to her shoulder and his lips met fabric. The fabric also felt familiar, but because he was half-asleep, he hadn't quite picked up that it wasn't normal pyjama material he was feeling.

He entwined his legs with hers and pressed his erection into her backside. There was something starting to nag in the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right, a feeling that was only exasperated when he heard an appreciative groan that didn't quite seem to fit.

"What in the world?" Vanessa exclaimed, her voice further away than what Gambit was expecting.

Rogue's eyes flew open, realising in that moment that this wasn't some hot little dream she was having, this was very real, and Vanessa was looking at them right now with a horrified expression on her face.

"Remy?" Rogue exclaimed breathily.

Rogue's voice was a lot closer than Gambit was expecting. He stopped his squeezing, kissing, thrusting, as his nagging thoughts clicked into place. Very slowly he opened his eyes and lifted himself up onto his elbow. He looked at the woman in his arms: Rogue.

"Mon dieu," he said. "Rogue, I'm so sorry. I didn't... I thought... Merde."

Abruptly he realised that his hand was still firmly clasped on her breast and his erection tightly pressed against her backside. He jerked back.

"Desole, desole," he said, sitting up and unable to look at either woman right now. "I thought you were Vanessa."

"Of course you did," Rogue said irritably, sitting up and keeping her eyes on the wall and anything else which meant she didn't have to look at either of them. "Excuse me, I have some inmates to feed."

"Yeah," Gambit said as Rogue zipped from the bedroom as fast as she could (which was pretty fast). "I, uhh, I have to go to the bathroom."

He got up and made his way to Rogue's ensuite. There was no way he was walking past Vanessa so she couldn't see the tentpole in his pants. He definitely did not want his girlfriend to see the erection he got playing with another woman.

He closed the bathroom door quickly, stripped off, and got into the shower. He should have realised it was Rogue. They had a similar body shape, but Rogue was a few inches taller and carried more fat, hence being a cup larger than Vanessa. As he jerked himself off, Gambit tried to think of Vanessa, but the only face in his mind was Rogue's.


	3. Alternate event for chapter 70

**AN: **This is not so much a 'scene' as it is about a third of a chapter, heh. I wrote this about the same time I was writing chapters 68, 69 and 70, mostly as an outlet for my personal impatience and frustration about Rogue and Remy not having gotten together yet. See? I was getting irritated about that too! Hehe.

This scene only has mild spoilers at best... actually it probably doesn't have any. And it hasn't been seriously edited either:

* * *

Gambit finished drying himself off and hung his towel over the rail in the bathroom. He pulled back the sliding door and walked into his bedroom. His eyes fell on Rogue, who was hunched over near Vanessa's bedside table with a book in her hand. He froze in surprise and Rogue's face went bright red as her eyes ran over his body.

"Oh hell," Rogue said, and abruptly turned her back on him as she straightened up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were in here. I was just getting Vanessa's book for her."

"It's okay," Gambit assured her.

"I'll just... I'll just go," Rogue said.

Her eyes darted towards him again as she hurriedly walked past, then she cleared her throat and jerked her head back as she scampered out of the room. Gambit found himself grinning at the door as it closed behind him. Normally he'd feel embarrassed about being caught in his birthday suit like that and make a casual-seeming-rush to grab some clothes. He supposed he didn't feel embarrassed around Rogue because they were so close.

* * *

Rogue got to the sun room feeling incredibly flustered. She handed Vanessa's book to her where she lay half asleep on one of the sun chairs and sat down next to her.

"Thanks," Vanessa said, having felt too lazy to go get it herself. She frowned seeing the wild-eyed look on Rogue's face. "You okay?"

"I... I just saw Remy naked," Rogue admitted sounding rather stunned. "I knocked on the door before I went in. I didn't hear the shower going. I picked up your book and all of a sudden, he's stepping out of the ensuite as naked as the day he was born."

"Ah," Vanessa replied, not entirely sure what to do with that information.

"I tried not to look. Really I did," Rogue added earnestly while being unable to look Vanessa directly. "I just, I, I haven't seen him naked before."

Rogue buried her face in her hands and Vanessa regarded her with some curiosity.

"Really?" Vanessa asked. "Huh."

"What?"

"Well, you two are so close, what with the touching and the sharing a bed since long before I ever came into the picture," Vanessa said. "And I know you've both insisted that there's nothing sexual between you, but I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if you two had seen each other naked before."

"Well, we haven't. And now I have. And I am never, ever, ever going to get that image out of my head."

Vanessa chuckled. Rogue slowly turned her head and finally looked at Vanessa.

"You are taking this way too well," Rogue said. "I just told you I saw your husband naked."

"You also told me it was an accident, and you're obviously embarrassed about the whole thing," Vanessa replied as she opened up her book to the page she was up to. "It's not like you tried to jump his bones or anything. Besides, I trust both of you, and the fact that you were willing to tell me this even happened only vindicates that trust."

"You are annoyingly reasonable, you know that, right?"

"So I've been told."

* * *

Gambit headed into the kitchen to grab a quick lunch for himself and came face to face with Rogue who obviously had the same idea. Her face went red and she looked away from him, concentrating on the construction of her sandwich.

"You're not still embarrassed about before, are you?" he asked, leaning on the bench beside her.

"Umm, yeah, just a bit," Rogue said, for once wishing he wasn't so close. "Aren't you?"

"Oddly enough, no," Gambit replied. "You'd think I would be... But I guess I've bared all to you before, doing it physically this time doesn't seem like a big deal. "

"You're married!" Rogue exclaimed.

Gambit shrugged. "It was an accident. So, whatcha doing for lunch?"

"Salad sandwich," Rogue replied. "Do you have to be so close?"

Gambit pulled back, surprised and a little hurt. She'd never told him off for being too close to her before, well, aside from during that trip to the moon when Vanessa came with him, but he'd actually done something to deserve it.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, honestly confused.

Rogue half closed her eyes as she finished off making her sandwich.

"Yes, no... Just forget it," she said, putting her sandwich on her plate. "It's not you, it's me."

"Okay, so, I know you know how much I hate it when people say that to me," Gambit said angrily. "Because it almost always means it is me."

"Well, not this time," Rogue said, snatching up her plate and walking to the door.

"Rogue—"

"Just leave me alone."

Gambit stared at the door as she departed. Leave her alone? Who was that woman and what had she done with Rogue?

* * *

"She's never told me to leave her alone before," Gambit said to Vanessa as they sat in their bed together later that day. "I don't get it. Are you sure there isn't a way we can test to see if she's an impostor or something?"

"I'm sure she's not an impostor," Vanessa replied patiently. "She probably just has the memory of seeing you naked engraved on her mind or something."

Gambit frowned, not entirely sure what to do with that idea. Rogue had pretty obviously checked him out. Of course, women were always checking him out so there really wasn't anything unusual there.

"Well, I am a pretty sexy guy," he said. "I can see how that would be a difficult memory to let go of."

"Can you see why Rogue might be a bit uncomfortable knowing she saw a married man naked?" Vanessa asked.

Gambit considered that for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess. But it's not like she feels that way about me. Not like some of the other women who check me out and end up disappointed when they find out I'm married."

He grinned mischievously at her, while she fought back the urge to call him clueless.

"So, how does it feel to be married to the hottest man on the planet? And off the planet too, for that matter?" he asked her.

"It's not nearly as trying as being married to the most arrogant man on and off the planet."

Gambit chuckled and started kissing her neck. "Come on, I bet you love looking at all those women looking at me and knowing that they'll never have me, 'cause I'm yours, all yours."

"That's really not my style, Remy," Vanessa answered quietly. "Besides, that's really not the kind of thing I'd want to rub in Rogue's face at all."

"Eh, Rogue doesn't count," Gambit dismissed as he continued to kiss her. "Like I said, she doesn't think of me like that."

Vanessa really wanted to call him clueless.

"Remy, she hasn't dated anyone since Blake, and they broke up...umm...before we got married," Vanessa said irritably. "And we're coming up to our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary!"

Gambit paused in his kisses.

"You're probably the only naked man she's seen in all that time," Vanessa went on. "She's probably really hurting right now, and you're just making jokes."

Gambit slowly pulled away, frowning as he considered Vanessa's words. Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief, pleased that she'd been able to get across to Gambit that Rogue was dealing with some emotional distress right now without having to blow her secret.

"I don't see how me leaving her alone is going to make her feel less lonely," Gambit said slowly, sounding troubled.

"Can you see how being around her and reminding her of what she doesn't have won't make her feel any less lonely either?" Vanessa asked gently. "Just give her some time. You guys are so close, I hardly think this is going to cause a rift between you or anything. But you two can really get into each other's space sometimes."

"I guess."

* * *

Gambit found he really hated the idea of Rogue being lonely, especially as she was lonely in a way he couldn't do anything about. He had half a mind to see if he could set her up with someone, and a part of him actually wished he wasn't so strongly against prostitution because the idea of hiring a gigolo for her had plenty of appeal.

If he wasn't a married man...

"So, umm," Rogue said over dinner one night, "I've decided I'm going to move."

"What? Why?" Gambit asked before anyone else could respond.

"I just think it's about time I had my own place—"

"You've had your own place for decades," Gambit cut in. "That's how you keep up ending being isolated."

"It'll be different this time. I'm not as restricted as I used to be," Rogue replied.

"I don't want you to go," Gambit insisted.

"Well, you don't get a say."

"Since when?"

"You're not my keeper, Remy," Rogue snapped at him. "I'm a grown woman and I'm moving out. That's it, end of story."

"Is this about the other day?"

"No!"

"Really? Because it's only since that happened that you've been avoiding me, and now you're telling us you're moving out."

"What happened the other day?" Clay asked.

"Nothing happened," Rogue said direly.

Clay gave her a disbelieving look and turned to Gambit. "What happened the other day?"

"None of your business," Gambit replied, his eyes still on Rogue. "Look, I know you're hurting but running away isn't the answer."

Rogue stared at him, then looked at Vanessa. "Did you tell him?"

"Nope," Vanessa replied, shaking her head.

"Tell me what?" Gambit asked.

"He's actually pretty clueless, to be honest," Vanessa went on. "He thought it was weird that you would tell him to leave him alone, figured you were really Mystique or something."

"Clueless about what?" Gambit asked.

"See?"

Rogue sighed and buried her helmet in her hands.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked.

"Shh," Carrie hissed at him. "If you don't say anything, they'll forget we're here."

"I think they've already done that, and I'm not even using my powers," said Clay.

"I just can't deal with staying here any longer, okay?" Rogue said. "I love you all, but it's just... some things just hurt too much. And come on, I can teleport to the moon and back on a whim, it's not like we can't see each other whenever we want."

"That's not the point, Rogue," Gambit insisted. "We're your family. And I'm not going to stand for you going off and living by yourself again, because that's never ended well."

"Like I said, this time it's going to be different. It's already different. I've been really getting out and about much more than I used to," Rogue replied. "My mind's made up. I just need to find a place to build an airtight home for myself. Maybe I'll check out Siberia."

"You have to be kidding me."

"What? The cold is never going to bother me, and like I said, I can teleport whenever and whereever I want on a whim," Rogue pointed out. "Why build a place in a tropical paradise I'll never be able to fully experience? Oooh, I should get a pool. It's been decades since I last went swimming."

"You want a pool? We can do that. We've still got unused space in the basement," Gambit insisted.

"Remy—"

"No. Absolutely no," he snapped. "I'm not going to let you leave so you can go back to being neglected and forgotten and isolated, and not get enough hugs."

"Remy—"

"I hate seeing you like that!"

"And I hate being here all the time being reminded every single freaking day of the one thing I can never have!"

"And what's that exactly? Because whatever it is, I'll get it for you."

Rogue shook her head. "You can't, stupid."

"Hey, I can get you anything," Gambit insisted.

"Just because you're a thief, doesn't mean you can steal everything!" Rogue snapped at him, and then pointed at Vanessa. "Besides, what I want, she already stole."

Vanessa froze.

"I can't do this any more," Rogue declared.

Without another word, she teleported away.

"What the hell?" Gambit asked.

"Oh my god," Carrie exclaimed. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, omigod!"

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Nessie, what was she talking about?" Gambit asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Vanessa asked him, and gestured towards Carrie. "Your daughter's just figured it out from one conversation and you still have no clue? For a smart man, you sure can be pretty dense."

"Auntie Rogue's in love with Papa!" Carrie shouted.

Clay and Charlie looked at each other.

"You can't be serious," Gambit said. "I've known the woman for sixty years, I think I would know if she was in love with me."

Wouldn't he?

"Sixty years, huh?" Vanessa repeated and cocked her head at him. "Just exactly how old are you, Remy? Ballpark figure? Because I'm sixty, and Rogue's eighty."

Gambit pursed his lips. "A hundred and ten."

"Whoa," Charlie exclaimed.

"And she's not in love with me," Gambit insisted.

"Then why did she just accuse me of stealing something?" Vanessa asked. "Like say, your heart?"

Gambit shook his head. He had no answer.

"She loves you, Remy," Vanessa said, feeling tears pricking at her eyes. "She has for so long. She never told you because she couldn't bear the thought of losing you. After all, she knew you didn't reciprocate."

"I..."

"Just let her move, okay? I know you're worried about her, but... She's decided she needs her space. I don't know that I blame her. I don't think I'd like living with the man I was in love with and his wife and kids," Vanessa said, considered her words for a moment, then added: "Although I hear there are people who are into that sort of thing, but you know, I'll just stop there before I make any judgemental statements about bigamy and mistresses."

* * *

Gambit found that the airlock door to Rogue's room was locked. This did not deter him. He designed and even helped build the house, he had no problems getting through the lock on the door. He changed into a hazmat suit, unlocked the second door, and let himself in.

"That door was locked for a reason," Rogue practically snarled at him from the bed.

"They usually are," Gambit retorted. "But we weren't done with our conversation."

"There's nothing to discuss," Rogue replied, not bothering to look up from her book as he stalked over to her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you were in love with me?"

Rogue didn't reply. Gambit sat down next to her on the bed and pulled the book out of her hands.

"Why?" he insisted.

Rogue pursed her lips angrily.

"What would have been the point?" she snapped at him. "You're always having women fall in love with you. How would I have been any different? You would have just put me down gently and I would be heartbroken, and things would be awkward, and I just... You were always so happy about us being friends."

"If you had told me, I would have asked you out," Gambit replied seriously.

Rogue frowned.

"I thought about asking you out heaps of times. I never did 'cause I thought we needed each other more as friends," he said, then added ruefully: "Plus I thought, at least in the early years, that I might just end up using you for kinky sex and I didn't want you to become a toy to me."

Rogue raised her eyebrows and stared at him. "You serious?"

"Completely."

"I... I'm not sure what to do with this information," she said.

"Yeah, neither am I," Gambit replied. "I love Vanessa-"

"I realise that. I'm not asking you to leave her or anything."

"I know you know that. What I'm trying to say is... I have no idea what I'm trying to say." Gambit sighed. "I don't want you out of my life, but this just isn't the time to be exploring these kinds of feelings."

"All the more reason why I should go," Rogue said. "Me staying here really will make things awkward."

Gambit said nothing and glowered at the wall. Rogue reached over and took his hand.

"You know I'm right," she said gently.

"Yeah, but I don't want you to be."


	4. Alt event for Ch 70 - Ch 105 SPOILERS

**AN:** I wrote this the same time I wrote the alternative event in the previous chapter, as an outlet for my frustration at having to wait before getting Rogue and Gambit together.

**This scene contains major spoilers for Chapter 105.**

* * *

Knowing that Rogue was at work, Gambit didn't bother putting on a hazmat suit before entering Rogue's bedroom suite. As the air lock door slid shut behind him he was shocked to see that Rogue wasn't actually at work after all. Rather, she was standing the middle of the room, in her hazmat suit, with her helmet on the table. Rogue noticed his arrival at the same time and they stared at each other.

"Okay," Gambit said slowly. "I thought you were at work."

"I was, I came home early," Rogue replied. "Why are you in here?"

"I think I might have left some notes inside that book you borrowed from me," Gambit said. "So, why am I still conscious?"

"I don't know," Rogue said. "I'm still absorbing the mice just fine, but they're protected by the force field filter."

"Right so, I'm not the only one who's confused then."

"No, you're definitely not."

"Well, we're both telepathically resistant if not immune, so it can't be an illusion. At least not one projected into our brains," Gambit said and looked around. "You don't have any holographic emitters in here at all."

Rogue shook her head. "Nope. All my senses tell me you're real."

"Well, that's an advantage I don't have," Gambit replied. "Here's a crazy idea, do you suppose this is a dream?"

"It seems like the only logical explanation," Rogue said slowly, "but since when does logic apply in dreams? And how often do you figure out you're dreaming in a dream anyway?"

Gambit shook his head and lifted his hands in the air.

"I don't know. This is all too weird," he said as he approached her.

"Yeah, it is," Rogue replied agreeably, and floated up a few inched in the air to she could be on the exact same eye level as Gambit. "But you know what? I'm not complaining. This is the first time in sixty or so years I've actually looked at another person without a camera or a screen or a visor or a forcefield in the way. So yeah, this is pretty cool."

Gambit chuckled and grinned at her.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean," he said.

He reached out and tentatively touched a lock of her white hair that dangled down in front of her face. Rogue bit her bottom lip and smiled. Gambit, used to wearing gloves when touching Rogue's hair, despite the fact that he was enjoying the fact that he wasn't, lifted his hand to brush the lock of hair behind her ear and ended up grazing her skin. Both froze.

"Ohhhh," Rogue breathed softly.

Apprehensive but becoming more and more convinced that he was dreaming this whole thing, Gambit deliberately but gently touched Rogue's face. Rogue caught her breath at the sensation of feeling his bare fingers on her bare cheek.

"Oh, I'd forgotten," she said, half closing her eyes.

Gambit stroked her cheek gently, amazed, but not nearly as amazed as Rogue was. Rogue lifted her hand to touch Gambit's, and abruptly realised that she was still in the bulk of her hazmat suit and her hand covered up. She phased for a moment, long enough for her hazmat suit to drop to the floor, and wrapped her hand around his. Tears pricked at her eyes. While one hand curled around his, her other hand reached out to touch Gambit's face. Tears began pouring down her cheeks. Skin! She was touching real life actual living breathing skin belonging to another human being! It was glorious and mind boggling and made her body shake with the sheer enormity of it all.

She whimpered as Gambit slowly slid his other hand onto her waist and then pressed herself against him, only to be frustrated by the fact that he was still in a full set of clothes. She needed more skin contact, and she needed it now. Without even bothering to stop and think, let alone ask, Rogue phased Gambit out of his clothes too. Her head swam with utter amazement as her skin touched his and she wrapped herself around him.

Gambit stood dumbly, finding himself in nothing but his boxer shorts, his arms wrapped around Rogue as she whimpered and sobbed and rubbed herself against him. He had never been more acutely aware of Rogue's body in his life and he suspected Rogue felt the same way about his body, only a thousand times moreso. He realised that it was completely platonic from Rogue's side of things, but for his own part he found himself becoming aroused by her.

He swallowed hard as he felt Rogue's top and bra drop on the floor and breathed out slowly as her breasts rubbed against his chest. His hands tightened around her waist, suddenly not trusting himself. Her hands ran all over him, up his back and arms, around his neck, along his side. Her legs rubbed against and wrapped around his. One rubbed against the side of his boxer shorts, and evidently Rogue was upset by the fabric standing in between her skin and his for the next thing Gambit knew, his boxer shorts and the last of her clothes dropped to the floor too.

"Rogue," he murmured, feeling incredibly guilty and turned on at the same time. "Rogue, we have to—"

"Touch me," she cut in needily.

"Rogue—"

"Touch me!"

Nervously, Gambit ran his hands slowly up along her back and she made a noise that made Gambit wonder if she was going to orgasm right there and then. Every fantasy he'd ever had about her came back in a flash, seemingly piled on top of each other, all of which he thought he'd long forgotten. He growled under his breath. He wanted her so badly right now.

"Roguey, chere," he said, "we have to stop."

"Talking crazy," was Rogue's muffled reply.

Before Gambit could get another word out, he found himself floating in the air and then being laid down on her bed. He swallowed hard as she pinned him down and continue to writhe against him like a cat in heat. He was turned on and terrified at the same time, knowing they had to stop and knowing that Rogue was well within her power to force him to do anything she wanted.

"Rogue we have to stop," he said determinedly, trying to stop his hands from wandering over her. "Rogue, please, this is the theromoregulating hazmat suit all over again."

"Can't stop," she replied. "I need you."

Gambit bit down on his tongue.

"I need you so bad," she said and began kissing along his neck.

Gambit groaned and the sound spurred Rogue on, not that she needed any more encouragement.

"Well we need to…" Gambit flailed, trying to form coherant words, "to… to slow down at least. This is too far too fast, Rogue."

"I don't care."

"Rogue, please," he pleaded with her, wondering how something could feel so wrong and so right at the same time. "Please we can't do this right now. I know it's been sixty years but we have to take this slow or you'll just hate yourself for losing control and we'll both hate me for taking advantage of you. And I'll hate me for cheating on my wife."

Rogue made a noise of euphoric desire and frustration.

"I can't… I can't!" she insisted. "I need you. I need you too badly."

Gambit captured her face in his hands. Desperation, need and tears were in her eyes. He understood; just like the hazmat suit, Rogue couldn't let him go right now even if she wanted to.

"Okay, okay," he conceded, his voice gentle. "How about we just lay here and try not to paw madly at each other? I'll hold you until we fall asleep?"

Rogue nodded and settled herself down on top of him.

"Uhh, just one thing," Gambit went on. "Can, uhh, can you make sure the door's locked? I really wouldn't want Nessie to walk in on us."


End file.
